Laws apply even to the most hateful

Published 5:07 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2009

In the aftermath of the stunningly abhorrent actions in Fairfield on Sunday, our community has learned something about itself.

Three people, who lacked the conviction to show their faces in public, stood on the sidewalk holding Nazi flags as a Hanukkah menorah was lit on Sherman Green. It was the very definition of a hateful act, and a shock to the region's sensibilities.

The public outcry was swift and overwhelming. Dozens of religious leaders joined with the community to condemn the display in the strongest terms. It was, amid the disgust, an opportunity to unite and show solidarity with our neighbors.

The display itself, though it runs counter to what decent people everywhere consider acceptable, may not have been illegal. Police say no laws were broken and no one was endangered.

It's difficult to accept sometimes, but it remains true that if the right to freedom of speech is to apply to anyone, it must apply to everyone.

We cannot succumb to the pressure to silence those with whom we disagree, no matter how offensive their views. Hate crime laws are specific, and Sunday's actions do not appear to cross that threshold.

But let there be no mistake -- this was a serious outrage.

We've somehow reached a point in our discourse when the word "Nazi" no longer holds the shock value it should. Political commentators throw the word around when talking about health care, or global warming. It is an affront to all those who suffered and died under the Nazi regime.

And it is an insult beyond compare to bring such imagery to a Jewish religious service.

The community's reaction has been heartening, and tells us much more about the place we live than three mask-wearing cowards.

And we can tell them even more by making clear that our laws are the same for people who peddle hate as they are for the rest of us.